Nothing // l.h

Chapter 26

"Good morning." My mom chirped as I walked into the kitchen on a foggy Sunday morning. I sat down next to Julia who was scrolling through her phone. I rested my head down on the kitchen table, still tired.

"Ellie do you want bacon?" I lifted my head a little and nodded, making eye contact with my mom. My mom liked to make breakfast on Sunday mornings, it was her thing. "Do you girls have plans for today?" My mom asked, making small talk.

Julia and I looked at each other, knowing neither of us had any plans.  I had thought about going over to Luke's, seeing as how we hadn't spoken since last night. I left our conversation out of being scared and not knowing what to do. I tried to call him again last night but hung up on the second ring.

"I'll take the silence as a no."

"I guess I could hang out with Michael and Ashton." I shrugged.

"What happened to Calum?" Julia wondered, looking at me. "I haven't heard you talk about him since I've been home." My mom agreed with her that they haven't heard about him in a while.

"He's just been really busy lately." I lied. How could I tell my mom and sister that I had lost a friend? I especially couldn't tell them why I lost a friend.

"Well I think you should invite everyone over." Mom suggested. "They can see Julia again." I forced a smile while I looked at my sister.

"I'll definitely think about it." I lied. "I think I'll just eat breakfast at Michael's." I announced, getting up from the table. I ran upstairs before my mom could say anything different. I threw on a red crop top and a pair of black jeans, adding a pair of Vans. I added a little bit of makeup and left my room. I managed to leave my house without any further questions from my mom or Julia.

I folded my arms as I walked across the two yards and arrived at Luke's house. I walked up the front porch steps and saw Luke sitting on a bench, puffing out smoke. He looked up at me as soon as I reached the top of the steps. I watched him put out his cigarette on the ash tray that sat on his lap. Luke patted the empty seat beside him, wanting me to sit down. I did as he wanted, sitting close to him.

"How are you?" He asked. It seemed a little odd that he still asked that. Even though he knew how I was feeling he still bothered to ask. I pursed my lips and shrugged.  "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you. I realize that I seemed afraid after you said what you said." I looked down at my hands resting in my lap.

"After I said I love you. After I told you how I felt." Even though I wasn't looking at him I could feel him staring at me. "I'm not an open book to everyone, Ellie. I'm not big on sharing my feelings."

I decided to come out with the one thought that's been on my mind since it happened. "But you said it at a time that could seem like you wouldn't."

"I've never said those words to any other girl." He said with a straight face, showing how serious he was about this.

"Luke you need to understand that this is all new to me." I said quietly.

"I do!" He exclaimed. "Ellie I understand. You told me and I listened. Yesterday I would've stopped the second you told me to." He stopped talking and laced our fingers together. "I want you to be comfortable because I love you, Ellie."

I was comfortable with Luke. I was perfectly fine with what happened yesterday, because it felt comfortable. "I love you, Luke." I looked down at our hands. "Don't think I don't just because of how I reacted." He brought me closer to him, undoing our hands and kissing me on the side of my head. 

"Hey do you want to go somewhere with me?" 

"Where would we go?" I questioned. 

"Just wait and see, jeez." He smiled. He got up and pulled me a long with him to his car. We climbed in and he reconnected our hands. He drove around and took back roads, coming to our final destination, which looked like a place like Chuck E Cheese.

"Why are we here?" I questioned as we walked hand in hand into the building. I saw little kids running around, trying to beat each other to the machines.

"Because it's something different and fun. Plus nobody expects two teenagers to be at Chuck E Cheese on a date."

"Oh so this is a date?" I raised an eyebrow at a smiling Luke.

"Obviously." He gave me a quick kiss and ran off to ski ball.

---
We took turns playing rounds six rounds of ski ball, later moving onto the shooting games and then the wind tunnel where you catch tickets.

"Fifty nine." Luke smiled, pleased with the amount of tickets he had collected over the last two hours. "How many do you have?" He looked at me from across the booth we were sitting at. 

"Forty three." I pouted. 

"Let's go get our prizes." He scooted out of the booth and headed to the prize table, me following closely behind. I leaned in closely to him while we looked down at the glass at the prizes we could get. Luke put his arm around my waist, rubbing my side. I looked up at the girl behind the counter who was smiling at us. 

"Not a lot of couples come here on dates." The girl said. I watched as she played with her braid that was tied to the side. "You two are the cutest I've seen so far." She looked about our age, maybe older. Luke and I looked at each other and smiled at the compliment. "What do you guys want?"

It didn't seem like there were any good prizes that I could get. Anything worth wanting was more than what Luke and I had combined. "I don't see anything." I muttered. Luke agreed with me and we thanked the girl and left. 

On the way home I agreed to hang out with Luke for the rest of the day, seeing as how I had no other plans and his family wasn't home. We walked up to his front door and stopped so he could find his key. He let out an 'ah hah' when he dug far enough into his pocket and found a single house key. 

I entered his empty house, everything seeming much calmer. I walked in infront of him, about to head up the stairs when he grabbed me by my arm and pressed me up against the door. "Hey there." I said, surprised by the sudden action. 

"I love you." He whispered. 

"I love you too." I responded, leaning in for a quick kiss. He kissed me harder, closing the remaining space between us. I let out a giggle when his hands went under my shirt and pulled me closer to him. We stayed like that for a while, breaking apart for a couple seconds. His hands wandered from my back down to my hand, lacing our fingers together. We walked up the stairs hand in hand and into his room. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and jumped on his bed. I laid down next to him as he searched for the remote under his blankets. I got closer to him, kissing him again. It was a soft, and meaningful kiss. My breath hitched when he moved down my neck and started kissing my collarbone. 

The moment just felt right to me. If you asked me if I was ready three hours ago, or even yesterday, I would've said no. But this moment made everything feel right. Luke was someone I loved and I knew.

**

yeet i wanted it to be a cliffhanger and i wasnt sure how to hang it off the cliff so i just did that 

but basically she gave him the greenlight so thats a thing that will be in the next chappy